


The Space Between Stars

by DarkPilot



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adam is a planet okay?, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Background Relationships, Canon Compliant, Character Death Fix, Closure, Fluff and Angst, Keith (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Memory Loss, Mild Allurance, Multi, Past Relationship(s), Platonic Relationships, Sort Of, Team Voltron Family, To An Extent, adashi, broganes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-19
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-09-22 18:36:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17064998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkPilot/pseuds/DarkPilot
Summary: There's an old Altean legend about warriors killed before their time that go to join the stars as guardian spirits of newly formed planets and moons. It was believed to simply be an old wives' tale, but then again, so were the ideas of parallel realities and the magical realm of Oriande. When the paladins land on a small moon that seems remarkably like Earth, they realize that they're not alone. When Shiro realizes who it is, he couldn't be happier. Still, there are violent fates at play in the universe that would kill and break and wound the course of love and reunion. Memory and time are not on Shiro's side as he fights to save his beloved guardian, and the paladins will find themselves thrust into the midst of the eternal war to protect the ones we love.





	1. I

"Is that — a planet?" To no one's surprise, Lance was the first one to notice. It was the first planet the paladins encountered after about three straight weeks of space travel. Of course they wanted to touch down and see what it was like.

"Scanners show that it's an oxygen-rich environment," Pidge reported after preliminary scans. "Lots of water and vegetation with some dry, desert-ish patches. It actually . . . looks a lot like Earth."

"Yeah, if Earth were about a tenth the size of what it actually is," Hunk commented. "No signs of life, from what I'm picking up."

"Let's check it out," Shiro suggested. He put a hand on Keith's shoulder.  "We could use a pit stop."

As the lions drew closer to the planet's atmosphere, Allura gave a little gasp. "The quintessence here — it's — "

"What is it?" Lance asked.

"It's like the planet itself is breathing," Allura said, her blue eyes wide with wonder. "I've never felt anything like it before — it feels  _ alive _ ."

"Good alive or bad alive?" Keith asked grimly. The last thing they needed right now was some monster planet that would try to eat them.

"It feels like the Balmera," Allura replied.

"Oh, so good alive," Hunk summarized.

"Still, keep your guard up," Keith said. He met Shiro's eyes, and the older man nodded. "We need to be ready if there's something that doesn't want us there."

They met no resistance when they landed in a clear patch of forest, which could have been either a great sign or a terrible sign. Since the paladins' encounter with Ezor, Zethrid, and the space pirates, Keith didn't want to be too careful. He was the first one out of his lion, bayard held at the ready with Kosmo at his side. The wolf growled softly but not menacingly. 

"Seems clear," Keith affirmed as the others joined him. He willed the lower part of his helmet visor away so he could breathe in the planet's air. It was almost twilight outside, and the air smelled like salt and sand and wind, almost like the desert back home. 

Lance echoed his thoughts aloud. "It smells like home."

"So this is what Earth is like, then?" Romelle asked, trailing behind Allura. 

"Yeah, sort of." Hunk shielded his eyes and looked skyward. "Huh. That's weird."

"What is it?" Keith asked. 

"It doesn't make sense that this type of environment could be sustained this far from the nearest star," Pidge answered for him. "Earth is about a hundred fifty  _ million _ kilometers from our Sun, but there's no star around here for at least five hundred million."

"And it wouldn't just be because of the size-distance ratio between this planet and its sun," Shiro finished. "Otherwise, it'd be bigger and would probably have ice instead of water." At some surprised looks, he said defensively, "Hey, I used to actually teach you guys in class, okay?"

"I have honestly forgotten that more than I'm proud to admit," Hunk said solemnly.

Keith turned to Coran. "Coran, do you have any idea where we are?"

"Not really," Coran said. "Without the Castle of Lions' database, it's hard to tell where we are. But I've never seen the likes of this in my lifetime. I'd even wager we've stumbled on an uncharted moon!"

"Well, that's pretty cool," Pidge said. "We could plant a flag here and claim it for ourselves."

Lance gasped. "DIBS!"

"You guys realize that  _ uncharted _ means that no one's ever been here before, right?" Keith said. "Or people have been here but no one's been able to put it on record."

"What are you suggesting, Keith?" Allura asked. 

"What if this is just another test?" Keith suggested grimly. "You know, like Garfle Warfle Snick. What if the reason nobody's been here is because nobody was meant to?"

"Okay, Keith, you are seriously freaking me out now." Hunk looked like he wanted to climb back in his lion and hide there.

"Or," Lance said meaningfully, "this is just a regular uncharted planet with nice accommodations that we can just chillax at for a while before we have to pick up and head back to Earth."

"I vote for the second option," Romelle said quickly.

"Yeah, me, too," Hunk added.

"All right, then," Keith said, glancing at Shiro. "We can camp out here for the night, let the lions refuel some before we head back up tomorrow morning."

"Awesome!" Keith had no idea how Lance had gotten a sleeping bag from his lion so quickly. "Team camping trip!"

Keith sighed and rounded up the others to get basic supplies and food out of their lions. Shiro took him aside for a moment in the Black Lion. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Keith said. "I dunno, something just feels off."

Shiro nodded. "I get that. Feels too quiet, huh?"

"It's not just that." Keith held out a bundle of food and water packages for Kosmo, who took the bundle in his teeth and disappeared. "It's just . . . since my fight with Macidus, it's like I've become more . . . aware of what's going on around me, like a funny feeling in my stomach. I don't really know how to describe it."

"Hm." Shiro nodded pensively. He touched Keith's shoulder. "You think he might have imprinted on you or something?"

Keith shook his head. "It's more than that. You know how Allura said that she felt like the planet was breathing? I felt something like that, too. Sort of like the Blue Lion's energy back on earth. I think it has something to do with this quintessence stuff. Maybe I have more of a reaction to it than you guys just because I'm part Galra."

"Maybe," Shiro repeated. "We have been flying through space for about three weeks straight, and we're all a little sleep-deprived. It could be nothing, but just in case, you let us know if anything gets too weird."

Keith smiled softly. "I will."

It was then that Kosmo reappeared in the Black Lion's cockpit, whining softly. Keith put one arm around the wolf's middle and linked his other arm through Shiro's. Shiro grinned. "Teleporting wolf sure comes in handy, huh?"

"Sure does," Keith replied before Kosmo took them back outside.

"How about Lapillurunkeiromellan?" Lance was suggesting. 

Pidge smacked her forehead with her palm. "That's even dumber than the first one."

"Yeah, how about we name this planet something I can actually pronounce?" Hunk said helpfully. "Like, I dunno, Nacho Land or something?"

" _ What _ are you guys talking about?" Keith asked, overhearing the conversation.

"Lance said we need to name the moon since we're the first ones to land here," Romelle explained. "And he's been making complicated combinations of all our names for at least half a varga."

Keith just raised an eyebrow as Lance suggested, "Lamellidgunkallureithan."

"I didn't hear myself in that list," Shiro commented lightly, crossing his arms.

"Oh, quiznak!" Lance exclaimed. "Wait, Pidge, what did I just say?"

"Something that rhymes with 'camel' in the front and 'cretin' in the end," Pidge said dryly. "Anyway, I don't care about what we name this place. I'm hungry."

"Yeah, me too," Hunk agreed. "We're on a nice-looking planet. There's probably something good to eat around here that isn't processed goo."

"Let's set up camp first," Keith said. "Then we can decide whether or not to go on some culinary expedition."

Setting up camp consisted of rearranging some blankets and crates in a circle and Lance attempting to set a fire by vigorously rubbing two sticks together, Hunk trying to light the fire by nearly breaking one stick against a rock, Pidge suggesting only half-seriously that they use the Red Lion's fire cannon, and Keith exasperatedly striking a spark on his bayard and catching the stick on fire. 

"Ah, that hits the spot," Lance sighed, putting his hands up near the flame. 

"That's not going to stay lit forever," Allura pointed out.

"Right," Coran agreed. "Keith, Hunk, you'll come with me to find some firewood. Better get moving before it gets too dark."

"Yes!" Hunk pumped a fist in the air. "Culinary expedition, here we come!"

"Aw, I wanna go on an expedition!" Lance said disappointedly as they left.

"Yeah, but do you want to leave the fire?" Pidge countered. "The warm, warm, comfortable fire?"

"Ah. Good point."

—

"Huh, so there really aren't any life forms out here," Hunk commented dryly for about the fourth time so far. "Besides all these trees."

Keith used his bayard to slash the nearest tree trunk to mark where they'd been. "Yeah, guess not."

"Interesting how all this forest seems so well-maintained," Coran added. "From the look of things, it doesn't look wild at all."

"Could be a self-sustaining system," Keith suggested. "I ran into some creatures in the quantum abyss that had self-sustaining and self-maintaining systems on their bodies."

"Right, but those were living creatures," Coran said. "This is just a planet."

"Anyone else feeling mildly creeped out?" Hunk checked, wrapping his arms around himself. "Why'd we even come out this far, anyway? Why couldn't we just break off some branches closer to the campsite? This place is getting kinda creepy in the dark."

"Well, we didn't want to go around hurting the only things that are actually alive around here," Coran answered matter-of-factly. "Besides, we don't know what would happen. They might even have natural defense mechanisms that we don't want to find out about. Anyway, there's plenty of wood lying around this forest."

Movement flashed by in Keith's peripheral vision, and he whirled around, dropping the kindling he was carrying. "You guys see that?"

"See what?"

Keith wished that he hadn't left Kosmo lying down in Romelle's lap at the campsite. The wolf would have been able to sense danger long before anyone else did. Still, Keith had decently developed survival instincts, and he had learned to trust them. "Wait here."

Coran and Hunk exchanged equally confused shrugs as Keith quietly and quickly dashed towards the source of the movement. He had somehow tapped into Macidus' quintessence on whatever planet that had been. He could feel the energy tugging at the pit of his stomach — could he tap into it again?

Keith closed his eyes.  _ Patience yields focus. _

Where feeling Macidus' presence was like sinking into a tar pit, the planet's energy gave off a warm sort of glow that reminded Keith of fireflies. It felt familiar, somehow, but Keith couldn't recognize it, like a quote that he couldn't match to a book. A ghostly figure danced behind Keith's eyelids, and he stumbled back. 

_ Who are you? _

Keith couldn't tell if the question had come from his own mind or if it had been directed towards him. Still, his senses reached consensus on one thing — the energy he'd felt was definitely emanating from the planet and not some other creature. It felt alive and . . .  _ intelligent. _ Keith was reminded of one movie Lance had made them all sit through, when the main character's father had turned out to be a living, murderous planet. 

Hopefully, this planet had no intentions to kill anyone.

Or maybe Keith was just overreacting. Shiro could be right — maybe Keith had still not fully recovered from his fight with Macidus. Or maybe he was just tired.

But that wouldn't explain how Allura had also felt the same energy.

Keith glanced around, but the warm firefly feeling and, presumably, whatever had been causing it, was gone. He held his bayard up but didn't activate it. Had he scared it off?

"Keith, you still there?" Hunk's voice echoed through the underbrush. "I think we —  _ AAH!" _

Keith bolted towards Hunk's panicked scream. He didn't have to go far before Hunk came running through the forest with Coran wrapped rather acrobatically around his shoulders, both of them screaming hysterically. Keith activated his sword and went in the direction they'd come, speaking into his helmet comm. "Guys, something's just happened. Hunk and Coran ran off. I'm going to go check it out."

"Do you need backup?" Allura asked. 

"No, just make sure Hunk and Coran didn't get lost," Keith answered, keeping his voice low as he crept between the trees. "If I need backup, I'll call."

"Copy," Lance replied. "Don't do anything too crazy."

"Copy." With that, Keith continued on his path. It was easy to tell where Hunk and Coran had been, since the grass was all rumpled there. Slowly, all senses on high alert, Keith inched along Hunk and Coran's flighty escape route. Nothing particularly out of place jumped out at him. He chanced a "Hello?"

Nothing. Not even the grass whispered under his feet. The silence made Keith more anxious than if there had been a reply. He tried again. "Who's there?" 

Again, nothing. Keith sighed. He wasn't going to find anything like this. He deactivated his bayard and willed it away, picking up some of Hunk and Coran's discarded kindling. He may as well just have something to take back to the camp. It took a while to find the slashed trees again, but once Keith found them, they were easy to follow. 

Thankfully, Hunk and Coran had found their way back to the others before Keith did. Or maybe someone had gone in and found them first. Either way, Keith breathed a small sigh of relief knowing that they were okay. 

"Keith, you're back — " 

Lance was quickly interrupted by an overly enthusiastic Hunk. "KEITH! We thought he got you!"

Keith thought he felt at least two ribs crack as Hunk squeezed him tightly, lifting him a good two or three inches off the ground. "Whoa, whoa, easy there." Hunk let go, and Keith stumbled to the ground. "What happened?"

Coran and Hunk started offering their own versions of what happened, very panickedly and very quickly. Keith held up a frustrated hand. "One. At. A. Time.  _ Please. _ "

"There was a ghost out there!" Hunk practically yelled. "And he was coming right for us!"

"All covered in blood and dripping — "

"Maybe ten feet tall — "

"And his head was chopped off and on fire — "

Keith looked helplessly at Shiro as Hunk and Coran started rambling again. He wasn't sure how much of their story was real and how much was just their overactive imaginations. Shiro just shrugged. Lance and Allura looked concerned, Pidge looked skeptical, and Romelle looked as if she didn't know whether to be scared or equally skeptical.

"Well, I didn't see anything out there," Keith declared. "And besides, ghosts aren't real."

"Whoa, wait, hang on," Lance interrupted. "Doesn't anyone here remember the Castle being haunted that one time?"

"The Castle was haunted?" Romelle asked curiously.

Pidge sighed. "It was because of Sendak's infected crystal, Lance. The Castle wasn't really haunted."

"We were attacked by food, Pidge, by  _ food!" _ Hunk protested.

"Yeah, well food's not a ghost — "

"Okay, this isn't helping," Keith said. "Hunk, Coran, whatever you saw is gone now, but we'll keep a watch up during the night in case anything happens. Everyone else, it seems like we're stuck with food goo for dinner. Are there any other problems that need to be addressed?"

There was silence. Then Lance raised his hand.

_ "Yes, Lance?" _

"This is something absolutely important that must be taken care of immediately," Lance said solemnly. "I saw a beach nearby, and I would like to propose a team beach party."

"What?" Allura asked at the same time Pidge said, "We're only here to rest up a day or so. We don't have time for a beach party."

"We totally do!" Lance argued. "Look, it's not dark yet, and according to Keith, there aren't any ghosts, and it's literally  _ right there _ ." Lance gestured behind the lions. "Besides, when was the last time any of us have been to the ocean or something?"

Hunk raised his hand. "We were on that one icy ocean planet once."

"Yeah, but that was, like, forever ago," Lance countered. "I'm talking a nice, cool, Earth-quality, surfers-and-sand-castles type beach party. Lemonades and lawn chairs and stuff."

"Lance, I don't know if you noticed, but we don't have lemonade  _ or  _ lawn chairs," Keith said dryly. 

"Plus, we don't want Shiro short-circuiting or electrocuting everyone like that," Pidge added, waving at Shiro's stump. "Uh, no offense, Shiro."

"None taken." Shiro raised his other hand slightly. "Look, I know we're all tired. We're here to relax and take a tiny break on our way home. If relaxing means beach party for you, Lance, you're welcome to go down and have fun."

"Yes!" Lance pumped a fist in the air.

"On one condition," Shiro added, effectively erasing the grin from Lance's face. "There might not be ghosts on this planet, but we do need to be careful. That means that whenever we split up, we split in groups. No one goes anywhere alone. Keith, come on. Let's go check out this beach."

"Sure, wait — what?" It took Keith a few seconds to realize what Shiro had signed him up for. "No way! You know I hate the ocean!"

"Well, we're going to change that." Before Keith could protest, Lance grabbed his arm and ran off. In a flash of light, Kosmo followed them. With an amused look in his eyes, Shiro turned to the others. "Anyone else want to come?"

Allura raised her hand. "I think it's best if we all go. That way we don't have to worry about being split for the rest of the evening."

"Especially not with some creepy ghost thing wandering around the forest," Hunk said quickly. "Allura, that is a  _ fantastic _ idea."

Pidge sighed. "If nothing else, I can sit and watch Keith and Lance drown each other."

"I don't think anyone's going to be drowning anyone, but sure," Shiro shrugged. "Let's go."

The walk to the beach wasn't long, and it was easy to follow the noise of shouting paladins. By the time Shiro and the others got there, Lance had stripped down to his black undersuit and was chasing Keith through the waves, squirting water at him through his bayard. When Lance saw them, he waved excitedly. "Guys, check it out, my bayard does  _ water gun mode!" _

"I told you to get that thing away from me!" A rather bedraggled and halfway-soaked Keith stumbled out of the water and onto the beach, his armor dripping. He spat onto the sand and kicked off his boots.

"Come on, Keith, lighten up a little!" Lance emerged from the water like a seal, bayard charged and ready to fire. "We're here to have fun!"

" _ You _ are here to have fun," Keith corrected. " _ I _ am here as your chape — "

It was then that Shiro pretty much picked Keith up from behind and tossed him into the water. It wasn't too deep, and Keith spluttered to the surface. "Okay, Shiro, I feel so quiznaking betrayed right now."

Shiro shrugged unapologetically. "Since I can't exactly jump in right now, watching you splash in is just going to have to cut it."

"Cannonball!" Hunk yelled, diving towards the water at full speed and making a wave big enough to knock both Keith and Lance down. He even managed to splash Coran, who had been at the back of the procession. Kosmo avoided the splash zone by teleporting into the bushes. "Man, this is a lot nicer than I thought!"

Pidge took off her glasses and wiped them on her undersuit. When Keith tried to come ashore, she pushed him back in. Keith stared at her incredulously, and she turned a look ten times more apathetic than Shiro's at him. At that, Keith grinned and dragged her farther into the water.

"Ack — Keith, my glasses — " Pidge spluttered, flailing wildly in the shallow water.

"That's what you get for throwing your team leader into the ocean!" Keith replied good-naturedly. He still didn't like being in the water, but at least it was bearable when he shed his outer armor. Pidge followed suit, and they tossed the white plates onto the shore in a green and red pile.

A few meters away, Hunk and Lance were having a splashing contest with Romelle and Allura while Shiro and Coran watched from the shore. Lance dove in and out of the water like he'd been born to a family of dolphins.

"Ugh, it's so salty!" Romelle wrinkled her nose as she wiped her face from Hunk's most recent belly flop. "Are all Earth oceans like this?"

"Mm-hm," Lance confirmed as he refilled his water gun bayard. "It took my eyes a while to build up enough immunity to see underwater."

"You can open your  _ eyes _ in this?" Allura frowned. "Is that some sort of evolutionary advantage?"

"Nope, just Lance being Lance," Hunk said, turning on his back and floating like a giant marshmallow. 

Pidge turned to Keith. "I don't know about you, but I think I'm going to go over there with Coran and Shiro. I'm sopping wet, and I hate it."

"Yeah, me, too," Keith agreed. "Let's get out of here."

"Well, you lasted longer than I thought you would," Shiro grinned warmly as Keith and PIdge joined him and Coran on the shore. There was a triumphant caterwaul from the shallows as Romelle managed to dunk Lance.

Keith shook the water from his hair. Kosmo appeared next to him in a flash of light and licked his face. Keith rubbed the top of the wolf's head and scratched his mane. "I'm not a cat, Shiro, I just don't like water."

Shiro looked at him pointedly. "And yet your favorite superhero is Aquaman."

"What‽" Pidge exclaimed as Coran asked, "Who's Aquaman?"

"No, my favorite superhero is Green Lantern," Keith corrected. 

Pidge crossed her arms. "Well, that's more acceptable."

"You should have seen him rant about the Aquaman series reboot, though," Shiro laughed. "He would not shut up for about a week."

Keith gave Shiro his best glare and failed, chuckling at the memory. "That's because they got so many things just  _ wrong _ . It was worse than the last Flash reboot."

"You  _ watched _ that?" Pidge said incredulously. "You're braver than I thought."

Keith gave a wry grin. "I only survived through the first two episodes. This guy, though — " He jabbed a thumb in Shiro's direction. " — sat through all six seasons."

"How‽"

Shiro laughed. "Patience yields focus."

"Hang on a moment," Coran said. "So there's a water man, a green light man, and a flash? Are these, er, Earth folktales?"

Shiro, Keith, and Pidge all looked at one another and shrugged. Pidge pushed her glasses up her nose. "Sort of. Lance knows more random comic book lore than any of us. You could go ask him."

Coran twirled his mustache. "I think I will."

Suddenly, Kosmo gave a long and soft howl. Keith knelt down beside the wolf, its ululations tugging somewhere in the pit of his stomach. "What is it, buddy?"

Kosmo jerked his chin towards the bushes and barked once. Keith glanced in that direction. He didn't see or hear anything. Everyone was watching him and Kosmo; even Lance had poked his head out of the water. Kosmo's haunches tensed, and his upper lip curled back in a snarl. Keith's bayard materialized in his hand, forming his sword. "Everybody stay alert."

"Uh, guys?" Hunk peeked out from behind Romelle, who was hiding behind Allura. "It's not that ghost thing again, is it?"

Pidge's bayard flashed into her hand, and she raised it in front of her face. "Who's there?"

"Do you guys hear that?" Shiro raised his chin. "That voice?"

"Voice?" Keith echoed. He tried to sink back into the firefly energy he'd felt earlier, but something was blocking him out. He reached for it harder, but something pushed him back. 

"Yeah." Shiro spoke almost like he was in a trance. "I — "

"Guys, look out!" A bolt of bright blue light shot past Keith's face and into a tree. 

Keith almost turned around and yelled at Lance for nearly shooting his face, but then he saw what Lance had seen. It was a humanoid figure, a little taller than Shiro, limping towards them. At first, Keith thought that Lance had hit the person, but he vetoed that idea when he saw the burning hole in the tree behind it. Kosmo snarled again but didn't attack. The figure got closer and closer, and Keith could make out more details. It seemed to be wearing an Earth-like flight suit but it was covered in blood and burns. Keith couldn't make out the face, since there were strange markings on the figure's half-burned face that couldn't just be scar tissue. Shiro suddenly ran in front of them, yelling, "Hold your fire! Hold your fire!"

"Shiro, what is it?" Even as Allura was speaking, Keith squinted at the figure. Something about its presence felt terribly familiar, but Keith couldn't place it. Of everywhere else in the universe, where had he felt that firefly feeling before?

The figure stopped in front of the bushes, its burned face staring blankly ahead. Its mouth didn't move, but the wind picked up in the shape of words.  _ You. _

That voice. Keith knew that voice, but Shiro knew it better. When Keith walked up to Shiro, the older man's face was almost as white as his hair. Shiro's lips fluttered, but Keith couldn't tell what he was saying.

There was a whisper of water as Lance, Romelle, Hunk, and Allura waded out of the water. Someone asked, "Is everything okay?" but Keith couldn't tell who. He put his hand on Shiro's shoulder.

_ I know you. _ The figure took one more step forward. It was then that Keith realized it wasn't even walking. Hell, he could see the  _ sand _ through its legs.  _ But who are you? _

"You . . . you don't know who I am?" Shiro's voice was soft and fragile.

_ I know your face.  _ The figure raised one arm, holding out its hand, and something materialized in its fingers. As it solidified, it floated over to Shiro, coming to a slow stop just inches from his face. Keith was close enough to see, and everything made sense at once. It was a picture, one that nearly everyone in the Galaxy Garrison had seen at some point, frayed at the edges and stained with blood in one corner. It had been taken after the first manned mission to Saturn, Shiro's first flight past the Asteroid Belt.

_ This is you, is it not? _ There were two men in that picture, and one of them was Shiro. The other was mostly obscured by the blood there, but it could have only been one other person.

"No way," Lance gasped behind him. "Is that Professor Wright?"

"It . . . can't be," Pidge breathed. "Can it?"

"Adam?" Keith chanced. Shiro didn't move, but the ghostly figure tilted its head.

_ Is that my name? _ Keith's eyes widened as the figure looked at him blankly.  _ Who are you? _

"I — It's Keith," Keith said. "Keith Kogane, remember? You tutored me in physics and history at the Garrison, and you let me sit next to you at the Kerberos dedication."

The figure — Adam — shook his head slowly.  _ I do not remember. I only know him. _ He gestured at Shiro, and the picture vanished. Adam turned his attention back to Shiro.  _ Who are you? Why are you here? _

Shiro made a choked noise in his throat, and it took Keith a few seconds to realize that his friend was  _ crying _ . Keith took the cue from Shiro and said as calmly as he could, "You and Shiro were partners at the Galaxy Garrison on Earth. You were also our teacher and a great fighter pilot. Does any of this sound familiar?"

Adam shook his head.  _ I remember very little. Whatever life I had before — I cannot reach it. _

"Life before?" Hunk echoed. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I can't believe I'm seeing this," Coran said in awe. "Look at his marks. Shiro, I think your friend is one of the Vraylar."

Shiro didn't even look at Coran. "A what?"

"Coran, nobody's seen Vraylar in hundreds of deca-phoebs," Allura said. "They're little more than myths now."

"Well apparently, so was Oriande and Slav's alternate realities," Lance said. "Spill the beans, Coran. What's a Vray-whatever it is?"

"The Vraylar are the guardians of newly formed planets and stars," Coran explained. "They're the spirits of brave warriors that have fallen before their time that go on to foster new life in the universe. The last recorded sighting of any Vraylar was in my grandfather's time. Ah, he had a good time telling me about them."

"Wait, warriors that have fallen before their time?" Lance repeated. "Does that mean . . .?"

"You're . . .  _ dead?" _ Keith whispered.

Wordlessly, Adam nodded.


	2. II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kinda late, but I hope the new year hasn't screwed up too badly so far for you guys, especially as we're only six days in. My resolution? To never make another New Year's resolution. And to update more often.

"No," Shiro whispered, the single word draining his breath. More words flooded his mind, but he couldn't get any of them out in real sentences. He could only repeat the one word that his brain could process. "No, no, no . . ."

"You are distressed." 

It had been years, but Shiro had still recognized Adam despite the marks and scars on his skin. He knew Adam's voice, Adam's face, even Adam's limp from that one time he had sprained his ankle during gym and Shiro had to help him to the nearest medical office. Adam had insisted that he didn't need help, Shiro had insisted on bridal-carrying him to the medic, and they had compromised on Adam just looping an arm around Shiro's shoulders and hopping all the way. But now, Adam wouldn't remember that. And he definitely didn't remember what had happened between them. 

Keith's hand was on his shoulder, steadying him. If Keith hadn't been there, Shiro would have likely fallen over. The younger man was looking at him through concerned violet eyes, silently telling him,  _ I'm still here. _

Shiro's mouth opened and closed several times as he tried to think of the best answer he could. Everyone's eyes were on him. The other paladins would have recognized Adam from the Garrison — if nothing else, he had been their teacher once. The Alteans — Romelle, Allura, and Coran — were keeping a respectful silence, even though they probably had no idea what was going on. 

After a few agonizingly silent ticks, Shiro managed, "You weren't supposed to go first."

Adam tilted his head. "I do not understand."

God, he really didn't remember anything, did he? A sinking feeling weighed down Shiro's legs like tungsten as he came to the slow realization that no amount of urging or pleading would make Adam remember anything from their past life together. In some ways, that was a blessing. In others . . .

Shiro glanced at Keith, who nodded once and took over. "Look, it's been a long day for everyone, and we didn't mean to disturb you or anything. We're just here to rest and refuel, and we'll be gone again in a day or two. Maybe you and Shiro can catch up in a bit, but I think it's better that we head back to our camp."

"Very well." Adam turned his gaze from Keith to Shiro as everyone started walking back. "Your name is Shiro?"

"Y-yeah," Shiro stammered. "Yeah. I'm Shiro."

"And I am Adam."

"Yeah." 

Adam looked at him curiously. Shiro realized that his right eye was missing. "You knew me well, then."

"You have the picture, don't you?"

"I assume that two people could stand together for a single moment for any number of reasons."

"That's true," Shiro allowed. That was such a purely  _ Adam _ answer. Whatever had taken his memories seemed to have left his essence — his  _ soul _ — alone. Shiro cleared his throat, deliberately slowing his footsteps so he and Adam could bring up the rear of the group. "We took that picture when we landed after our first mission to Saturn together."

"Saturn?"

"It's one of the planets in our solar system," Shiro explained. "We lived on a place called Earth. Only planet in our system that supports life. Saturn is pretty far away, past the Asteroid Belt. Earth's ships weren't great enough to break the Asteroid Belt for a while, so getting to Saturn was kind of a big deal."

"I was a pilot."

"You remember?"

The flutter of hope that had grown in Shiro's stomach was immediately snuffed when Adam shook his head. "No. I was flying when I died."

Shiro winced. There was that word again. He didn't want to talk about it, but the conversation would be inevitable. Adam didn't seem uncomfortable discussing it, and that was enough, right? 

Right? 

Shiro glanced in the direction of the other paladins. Keith was talking in hushed tones to the others as they arrived to the campsite, and Shiro didn't have to guess what he was talking about. It didn't seem like anyone was really paying attention to Shiro and Adam, but Shiro still felt oddly exposed at the idea of talking openly about Adam's . . .  _ death. _

He still couldn't wrap his head around that. Adam was one of the most careful people and one of the best pilots Shiro knew. His knowledge of atmospheric flight far exceeded Shiro's, since most of Shiro's flying was done in space. Where Shiro was flexible, Adam was exact, precise. Sure, that meant he knew exactly what loopholes he could use as an excuse to get himself and Shiro out of trouble, but he only did that twice. They'd been flight partners before becoming romantic partners. Shiro knew Adam both as a pilot and as a person. Adam didn't make mistakes, and when he did, he knew immediately what he did wrong. 

And yet he had died flying.

Adam must have noticed something on his face, because he took a few steps in Shiro's direction and hesitantly raised a hand. "I'm sorry you had to find out like this."

"Yeah, me too." Shiro took Adam's hand in his. There were holes burned through the material of his flight suit, and Shiro was able to feel Adam's skin in some places. "At least I could find out from you and not someone else."

"Perhaps that is better." Adam didn't say anything about Shiro holding his hand, but he didn't pull away either. Shiro sensed there was something he wanted to say but wasn't going to, something more than about them just holding hands. Adam always bit the inside of his lip subtly when there was something going on in his head that he couldn't quite put into words. "Can you tell me more about Saturn?"

"Sure, yeah, okay." Shiro sat down on a crate of food goo, and Adam took his place next to him. "Our shuttle was called the Prometheus. We went with a man named Sam Holt, who's one of the smartest people I know. He was our mission commander. We were going to check out Saturn's rings, bring back some samples." At the confused expression on Adam's face, Shiro elaborated, "The rings were basically giant bands of rock and ice that orbited the planet. Sort of like a big band of moons, but the pieces were smaller than satellites. Anyway, there was this pod in our ship that we used for landing in the rings, since the Prometheus was too big to get in. Sam and I were in the pod, checking out stuff, while you were waiting in orbit above the rings.

"But then there was this cosmic storm that we hadn't seen coming, and it knocked out the pod's radio comms and one of our engines. We lost contact with you and Earth for about an hour, and you were burning fuel. Sam and I were working as hard as we could to divert power to communications and get hold of you. All I could really think was,  _ I left my best friend alone up there. I need to get back. _ Come to think of it, I don't think I was scared, not really. I knew Sam could get us connected and I could fly the pod out.

"But you — you were the most terrified I'd ever seen you. When Sam and I finally got back to you and the Prometheus, you hugged me so tight I thought you'd never let go. And the minutes it took to get back to you — you said later that those were the longest thirty-four minutes of your life." Shiro hesitated. "And that was the first time you . . ."

"The first time I what?"

Shiro closed his eyes. "It was the first time you told me you loved me."

There. It was out now. Adam was silent, and Shiro didn't look at him. He knew that Adam still knew what that word meant, even if he didn't remember Saturn or the Prometheus or their two-year journey in space together or anything that had happened after that. His left hand fidgeted itself out of Adam's, and Adam didn't take him back. If there had been awkwardness between them before, there was definitely an invisible wall between them now. Adam's scarred face was unreadable, and Shiro took that time to study his new marks. 

There was a large red and purple patch of burn scars on the right side of his face that ran all the way down his neck and under his suit, and three jagged lines cut all the way across his forehead. The hair on the right side of his head was burned to nearly nothing, some patches growing out in fuzzy spots, while the rest of it was matted and bloody. Dark blue stripes leaked from the corners of his eyes to his jaw, but they didn't take the hazel-gold out of his irises. Adam was still wearing his glasses, but the right lens was missing, and the left lens was a spiderweb of cracks. His right eye was a white marble in a sea of red and purple. His lower lip was split and bruised, and there were spatters of blood all over his face. Adam's injuries almost didn't seem real — Shiro could almost convince himself they were the work of an extremely talented makeup artist.

It was a while before Adam spoke again, in which the other paladins and Alteans set up sleeping bags and were huddled in a little group of their own around the campfire. "And did you love me?"

"I — Of course." Shiro didn't even hesitate. "More than anything."

Adam went silent again, chewing at his lip. 

"Um, can I ask a maybe-offensive question that you don't have to answer?" Shiro asked. At Adam's nod, he continued awkwardly, "Does — does it hurt?"

Adam looked at him quizzically. "Does what hurt?"

Shiro gestured ambiguously to his own face, and Adam shook his head. "Only sometimes."

"Oh." That was probably the dumbest possible reply he could have given. Shiro could already feel himself going red. 

Adam looked away. "Maybe you will see it tomorrow."

"See what?"

Adam pointed to the sky. "Every day, there's a ship that falls out of the sky and crashes in the desert a few miles that way, and it disappears by nightfall. If you can spare me some time, I can take you there. It's where I got this." The picture materialized in Adam's hand again, and he stared at it. "There's a new one every day, but . . . I pulled this from the wreckage the first time I saw the ship crash."

"Wait a minute." Shiro's eyes widened. "You're telling me . . . you have to watch yourself — "  _ Die _ was far too strong a word here. " —  _ crash  _ here? Every day?"

Adam nodded. "I have grown used to it. Time tempers patience."

_ Time tempers patience. _ That phrase sounded so eerily like  _ patience yields focus _ . Shiro had never heard Adam say that before, and he almost asked if that meant he remembered. Maybe that could have been their saying, on another planet in another galaxy in another life.  _ Patience yields focus _ was something that Shiro told himself to get through countless check-ups and medical tests, something that he had first shared with Adam on the long road to Saturn, something that he'd clung to in the dark halls of the Galra prison and the gladiator ring. How cruelly ironic it was that Adam could remember a version of that phrase but not its original meaning.

Shiro shook his head, pushing his thoughts aside. "That's so messed up, though. Do you know why it happens? I mean, are you forced to watch it or something?"

Adam shook his head. He closed his fist around the picture, and it disappeared again. "To both of your questions, no. I go to the desert because I want to. I want to find answers about my past, about who I was before all of this. And I have never found anything close to a real answer, at least, not until you landed here." He gave a small half-smile. "You have already given me Saturn."

Shiro edged a little closer to Adam, and their shoulders brushed. "I would give you the entire solar system."

Adam's smile widened at that, and Shiro could feel that weight in his stomach lift with the corners of Adam's mouth. "I feel like I've heard that before. Have I?"

Shiro shrugged. "Maybe. I could be cheesy sometimes." He allowed himself to think,  _ Maybe things will be okay this time. Maybe this is my chance to make things right. Maybe we can start over, start better. Maybe. Just maybe. _

-

"Okay, here's the deal," Keith said, his voice low. "Something weird's going on here, with Adam and everything. So even if things look good, we need to be careful, stay alert. The last thing we need right now is for Shiro — or anyone else, for that matter — to get hurt."

"Keith, I know you're nervous, but we have to take things as they are, not as what they think they might be." Allura's voice was gentle. She glanced over to where Shiro and Adam were talking softly on one of the food goo crates, and Kosmo lifted his head to follow her gaze. 

"Yeah, man." Hunk leaned back. "I'm just having trouble adjusting to the fact that Professor Wright is — well, you know,  _ dead." _

"Well, one has to be dead to be Vraylar," Romelle pointed out. When everyone looked at her in surprise, she said simply, "What? I grew up on stories, too."

"Coran, can you tell us more about these Vraylar things?" Lance asked. "You said they were, like, guardians or something? Like the one at Oriande?"

"Something like that, yes," Coran answered. "The lore is always a bit hazy about them. According to my Pop-Pop Wimbleton, some of them grow violent because of a deep, innate rage at their early deaths. Others are kind and benevolent beings that help lost travelers. But all of them are looking for something to help them pass on."

"Pass on?" Pidge echoed.

"Oh, I get it," Hunk said. "It's like those Greek myths where they put a coin in someone's mouth to pay the boat-dude who takes them to the Underworld. Charon? Yeah, I think that was his name."

"What do you think  _ he  _ could be looking for?" Lance said grimly, glancing in Shiro and Adam's direction again.

"That doesn't matter," Keith cut in. "Like I said, we need to keep our guard up. If Adam turns out to not go all  _ The Shining  _ on us, then that's great. If he does, then, we'll be ready for him."

"Uh, I don't think  _ The Shining  _ is the right — "

"Whatever!" Pidge interrupted Lance. "I'm with Keith on this one. I don't think it's a good idea to stay here for too long anyway. Zethrid and Ezor and those pirates found us in the middle of nowhere. Who knows who else could find us here, on top of the fact that we still don't have properly working lions?" 

"But you guys, what about Shiro?" Hunk pointed out. "I mean, we should probably be talking this over with him, too, right? He knows Professor Wright better than any of us. And . . . if we're going to be resting anywhere, wouldn't it be a good idea to be somewhere some of us can at least, you know, be happy?"

"Do you think I don't want him to be happy?" Keith hissed. Kosmo whined at Keith's agitation and rested his head on his front paws. "Shiro's been through more than any of us. I don't know if you noticed, Hunk, but nobody else here has fucking  _ died and come back from the inner quintessence of their fucking lion _ ."

"Whoa, man!" Lance said. "Chill! Out! Hunk does have a point. I don't like the idea of leaving Shiro in the dark."

A low growl escaped from Keith's throat. "All right, any volunteers to invite him into this conversation?"

Awkward silence ensued, in which everyone avoided everyone else's eyes. 

Pidge sighed. "We're not even staying for more than a few days. I don't think there's really any need to get this worked up."

"Agreed," Coran agreed. "We're just here to let the lions recharge a bit, then we'll be back on our way." He stood up. "Anyone hungry?"

Hunk, Lance, Pidge, and Allura followed him over to some of the other crates they'd unpacked from the lions, leaving Romelle and Keith alone. Romelle looked at him curiously. "It's going to be okay, Keith."

"I'm going to make sure it is," Keith replied, clenching and unclenching his fists. "Adam's already hurt him once. I'm not going to let it happen again."

"Maybe that's not your responsibility," Romelle said. "Was it your fault the first time?"

Keith breathed a heavy sigh, shaking his head. "I guess not."

"So if anything happens — " Romelle carefully emphasized  _ if _ , " — I sincerely doubt that it would be on you."

Keith wasn't exactly convinced. "Sure."

"Besides," Romelle said cheerfully. "You've got a sword-bayard, and he doesn't. So if worst comes to worst, you can kick his quizzackering podlox!"

Keith offered a wan smile, not bothering to correct her pronunciation. "If."

"If," Romelle agreed. "I'm not really hungry, are you?"

Keith shook his head. "I'll eat later." Kosmo nudged his side, and Keith scratched the wolf's mane. "I hope there's something around here he can eat. Maybe not random space rabbits, but something that's not goo."

"Space whats?"

"I don't even know what they were," Keith admitted. "But they looked like rabbits. Rabbits are small animals on Earth about yay-big, big ears and twitchy noses and tiny, fluffy tails." He grabbed a nearby stick and traced a halfway-decent figure in the dirt. "Something like that."

"Interesting," Romelle said. "There wasn't anything like that on the colony."

"Yeah?" Keith tossed the stick aside, and Kosmo watched it go. Keith remembered the first time he had tried to get the wolf to chase sticks like dogs on Earth. Kosmo had just stared expectantly at him without fetching, no matter what Keith had said or done. Keith had the feeling like Kosmo knew exactly what he had been expected to do and simply refused to do it.

"Also," Romelle said, crossing her ankles. "Does Earthian have more swear words than just 'fuck', or does one word do it all, like 'quizzacker'?"

"Um." Keith wasn't sure if he turned white or red. "No, we have a pretty good arsenal. I just say 'fuck' a lot. Has the same energy as 'quiznak'."

Romelle grinned slyly. "You're pronouncing it wrong."

"Sorry,  _ quizzacker," _ Keith said. He offered a lopsided smile back at Romelle and tossed his bangs out of his face. Kosmo licked his cheek and scampered off to the others. He butted his head into Coran's leg, causing him to drop the goo packets he was holding.

_ "Quiznak!" _

-

After a few heated rounds of rock-paper-bayard, it was decided that Hunk would go over to Shiro and Professor Wright with some food goo. He cleared his throat and offered his best chef's-in-the-house smile. "Food goo, anyone?"

"Thanks, Hunk," Shiro said good-naturedly as he accepted a few packets. 

"Um, Professor?"

_ I do not need to eat. _ Was that a twinge of humor Hunk heard?  _ I am dead, after all. _

"Oh. Right." Hunk did his best not to stare at Professor Wright's face — staring was rude, after all — and opened his own food goo packet. Shiro slid over to make some more room on their crate, but Hunk shook a hand. "I can sit on the ground."

"We were going to sit closer to the fire, anyway," Shiro said. He stood up, glancing at Wright with something in his eyes that Hunk had never seen before. Hunk was usually pretty good at reading people, but this was something else. Not exactly love, not exactly fear, something in between.

_ Of course. _

Hunk ended up following Shiro and Wright over to the fire, where Keith and Romelle were casually chatting and saying "fuck" and "quiznak" more than Hunk would have expected. Shiro raised an eyebrow. "Hey, Keith?"

"Hey, Shiro?"

"Watch your fucking language."

Keith and Shiro exchanged matching smirks as Lance, Pidge, Coran, and Allura took their places around the fire. They ate in silence for a few moments, no one really willing to start talking. Honestly, Hunk was too hungry and too tired to care. He couldn't wait for a good nap on an actual planet with actual oxygen and actual gravity. The lions were good, but they could only offer so much in the way of comfort.

It was actually Wright that spoke up first.  _ How is it that you came here? _

"We're heading back to Earth to replace a magic castle spaceship that we had to blow up in some kind of magic space-time rift to save the universe," Lance summarized, sipping water out of his space CapriSun. 

Wright's eye widened almost imperceptibly.  _ I am . . . not sure I follow. _

"It's a long story," Allura amended. "We are the Paladins of Voltron, who fly the lions that brought us here. Together, they form the most powerful defender in the entire universe."

"Right, except the universe thought we took a three-year siesta while we were closing the inter-reality rift that Lotor accidentally sliced open in our last fight," Hunk said. "Not sure if that helped."

"Well, like Allura said, it's a long story." Keith's tone was careful but curt. Hunk noticed he wasn't looking at Shiro. "And we'll be gone in a few days."

_Stay as long as you need._ _You owe me no promises._

Keith stiffened. "Sure. Okay. Good."

_ I do have a question, though. _ Wright turned and looked at Hunk.  _ What do you mean by 'Professor'? Shiro said that my name is Adam. _

"Uh, you were our teacher once," Hunk said. "At the Galaxy Garrison. Fighter class flying and advanced physics?"

"Yeah, you came up with the most  _ impossible _ test questions," Lance said. "I barely passed physics with a D."

"And that was only because Hunk did all your homework for you," Pidge said dryly.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that,' Shiro said. He raised an eyebrow in Keith's direction and started laughing. "Did I ever tell you guys the story of how Keith tried to bribe me into passing his one-paragraph history essay?"

"That was literally once, and I was, like, fourteen!" Keith said loudly over various noises of surprise and amusement. "And it was a dumb assignment, anyway!"

"You thought all my assignments were dumb," Shiro countered.

Keith rolled his eyes. " _ You're _ dumb, you crazy old-timer."

"It was literally  _ one. Big-ass. Paragraph." _

"It was an es—"

"Okay, who cares about that, what happened?" Lance said eagerly. "What'd he do? What'd he do?"

"Shiro, I swear to God — "

"He stole my hoverbike and used it as a hostage," Shiro laughed. "But he forgot that he left his own bike in the garage, which I annexed as my  _ own _ hostage. You should have seen the look on his face. He thought he had everything under control, but then he had this  _ hilarious _ deer-in-headlights look when I reminded him about his own bike. I thought he was going to jump out a window or something."

Everyone else except Keith laughed. Even Wright offered an amused smile as Keith glared pointedly at Shiro. "If there was a window here right now, I would definitely throw myself out of it."

"Hang on a second," Pidge said, holding up a hand. "By hoverbike, do you mean that terrible red flying  _ thing _ that Keith was riding when we broke you out of the Garrison tents?"

"Okay, I get it." Keith held up his hands, his tone growing mock-defensive. "Everybody here is determined to give me a hard time. That's cool. I'm perfectly okay with that."

"You could have killed us!" Lance shouted. "You drove us off a quiznaking cliff!"

"Hey, you're still alive," Keith said matter-of-factly.

"Cliff dive, huh?" Shiro looked like he would have crossed his arms if he had two. Instead, he just held his stump with his left hand. "How'd it go?"

"Wait, Shiro, you're encouraging this?" Lance nearly exploded.

"Well, I am the one that taught him that move," Shiro admitted proudly. "So yes, Lance, I do encourage cliff-diving. I don't, however, encourage cliff-diving in illegal street races through Plaht City.  _ Keith. _ "

"Hey, I was in a shack by myself in the middle of the desert!" Keith protested. "I needed the money!"

Shiro gave a dramatic, long-suffering sigh as Pidge echoed, "Street races?"

"Yeah," Keith said. "More reliable than shoplifting."

"Oh. Sure. Okay."

Shiro made a horrified noise somewhere between a cough and a dying peacock screech. Keith elbowed him while Wright looked at the two of them in concern. "I already told  _ you _ all about this stuff, so will you please stop being so dramatic?"

"Ha!" Coran interjected. "You should have seen the Zafritz Ring races Alfor and I got ourselves into when we were boys. Alfor once bet two hundred crown bills on me coming in fourth place, and I slowed down to get in fifth just to spite him. His father, King Altin, was  _ not _ happy when he found out. Ah, those were the days."

"I think I remember Father telling me that story," Allura said. "Didn't King Altin ban Zafritz Ring races after that?"

"Oh, no, this was after the ban," Coran said happily. "Just because something's illegal doesn't mean it can't be fun."

"Or lucrative," Keith added. He withered slightly at the glare that Shiro directed at him.

"On the subject of street races," Lance said solemnly, "Keith's new nickname is James Dean, please pass it along."

"I don't get it," said Romelle as Keith rolled his eyes.

"He's broody and drives really fast and has a mullet," Lance explained. "And he has a red jacket."

" _ Jim Stark _ was broody and drove really fast and had a red jacket," Keith corrected. "And neither James Dean  _ nor _ I have a mullet. And yes, Lance, I have definitely seen  _ Rebel Without A Cause _ more than you."

"Yeah, well, he hasn't even seen the movie," Hunk added over Lance's protests of betrayal. "I have. Pidge has. Shiro?"

Shiro shrugged. "Once or twice. This guy — " He motioned to Wright, " — made me sit through a James Dean movie marathon one Christmas."

Wright squinted.  _ I think there were only two words in that sentence that I understood. _

"I'll fill you in later."

Hunk folded his hands behind his head, tried to lean back, realized there was nothing behind him to lean on, and leaned forward instead with his hands in his lap. "It's only a cult classic. You know, no big deal if you haven't seen it,  _ Lance." _

"Hey, it's not my fault that we've been in space fighting the Galra with no time to watch movies and no way to watch them even if we wanted to!" Lance crossed his arms. "Third thing I do when we get back to Earth is find a TV and catch up on all my shows."

"What's the first and second?" Romelle asked.

Lance held up a finger. "First: give my mom and dad and grandma and all my brothers and sisters ten million hugs and kisses. Second: eat a garlic knot on Varadero Beach and build a giant sand castle with my niece and nephew."

"That sounds like two things, Lance," said Pidge.

"Oh, all right, TV comes fourth."

Hunk was close enough to Shiro and Wright to hear Wright say something quiet to Shiro while the others bickered about Earth and James Dean, but far enough away for it to be inaudible. There was a small part of him that wondered what they were talking about, but he knew better than to eavesdrop. He yawned and stretched. "Man, it's been a long day. Maybe we can talk more in the morning about Earth and stuff? I'm tired."

Keith stood up. "I'll take first watch."

"I'll join you," Shiro said. "It'll be better if we go in pairs." Keith opened his mouth to say something, but Shiro beat him to it. "Don't you dare start the you-only-have-one-arm-so-it's-better-if-you-take-it-easy thing again. I can still punch and slap a lot of things, and one of those could be you."

"Whatever." Keith turned to the rest of them as they started piling into sleeping bags. "Y'all can pair up however you like, but we're going in two-varga shifts."

"Did you seriously just say 'y'all'?" Pidge said incredulously.

Keith glared at her. "I'm from Texas. Sue me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all can't tell me that Keith is literally a reincarnation of Jim Stark.


End file.
